Album · 1993

Tracklist

1. Premature Burial (3:46) 2. Rising of Infection (3:31) 3. They Died Without Crosses (4:14) 4. Growing into the Flesh (Bleed to Death) (3:26) 5. Body's Decay (3:24) 6. Ghost of the Past (5:37) 7. Under the Wings Only Remains (4:00) 8. Back to the Leprosy Death (2:18) 9. Behind the Truth (3:29) 10. Bells of the End (3:12)

ELECTROCUTION INSIDE THE UNREAL reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

"Inside the Unreal" is the debut full-length studio album by Italian death metal act Electrocution. The album was originally released through Contempo Records in 1993. "Inside the Unreal" was the sole album release by Electrocution and apparently a "classic" album on the Italian death metal scene of the early nineties. Or at least "classic" enough for Goregorecords to release the album in April 2012 in a remastered limited edition CD form.

The music on the album is a pretty standard type US influenced death metal. It´s brutal allright and technically well played too but the sound production isn´t very exciting (I´m listening to the remaster). Especially the "clicky" bass drums sound powerless and a sound like that is bound to bring my rating down. The fact that the tracks aren´t exactly of the type that stand out from each other isn´t a plus either. When that is said the band bring some ideas into the mix that make the album worth a listen. Especially when they toy around with technical death metal elements that lead my thoughts towards Atheist my attention is caught. That is a minor part of their sound on "Inside the Unreal" though. Predominantly this is pretty straight sounding US influenced death metal.

...so while "Inside the Unreal" isn´t as such as bad quality death metal album it´s a fairly standard one that doesn´t really stand out from the pack. The kind that flooded the market in those years and eventually meant the demise of the death metal boom of the early nineties. I´ll play fair and hand out a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating.

Inside the Unreal was the debut and only full-length album to be released by Italian death metal act Electrocution, although they did also put out some prior demos and followed the album up with a couple of EP’s. Inside the Unreal was originally released in 1993 through Contempo Records and had been solid out for some time. A 20th Anniversary edition of the album was released in 2012 through GoreGoreCords, which has been remastered and packaged up as a limited edition digipack. It’s this version that I have here for review.

The music of the release is best described as old school death metal. Given the time frame of Inside the Unreal’s original release that shouldn’t be too surprising. The music features leanings into thrash and technical death metal also. It’s an intense sound that Electrocution delivers, the sort that refuses to relent in its aggression through the album’s ten tracks, resulting in just about thirty-seven minutes of furious music. The riffs hit you hard and the solos are blistering, and it is all topped off by the deep growling of Mick Montaguti. Electrocution were very clearly a tight unit.

It’s a good album, but it’s also one of those where try as I might, I can’t find a lot to say about it. Electrocution was clearly an act with a single intent in mind and they stuck to it faithfully on their album, and I dare say that’s just what fans of this kind of music want. There are no unnecessary forays into other styles of music for intros and interludes as many modern albums tend to do. It starts and the band does the business until the end. It does mean on the other hand that you won’t be thrown any real surprises, however the material is consistently strong and while it isn’t really in the same class as what the big guns of death metal were doing at the time, such as Death who released the excellent Individual Thought Patterns in the same year, I do find myself enjoying Inside the Unreal a fair bit whenever I put it on. A great album rating is easily deserved for this very solid and perhaps overlooked release.

Members reviews

The early 90s was a good time for metal in general, with the rise of pioneering American death metal bands such as Death, Atheist and Obituary. Apart from the rising death metal genre in America, other regions were experiencing this growth at the same time, and Electrocution hails from Italy, with their debut (and sole) full length album, Inside the Unreal, originally released way back in 1993 as death metal has begun to go into its mature stages.

It is perhaps not surprising then that the style of death metal that Electrocution plays leans closely towards the more thrashy spectrum of the death metal genre, and right from the beginning the blistering speed that the band travels at one is immediately reminded of such acts as Death, as compared to the dark sound that Incantations prefer. The thrash metal influences are also clear in the guitars of Alex, where he unleashes insane and chaotic guitar solos in the veins of Slayer's Kerry King, apart from the urgent riffing patterns. The style of vocalist Mick are a savage, deep, throaty growl, helping to bring in the element of brutality in the band's music, and all these are backed by the frantic drumming of Luca, punishing the kits relentlessly. The songwriting abilities of the band is constantly shown off throughout the album, with the band somehow managing to bring about some sense of order despite the whole commotion going on.

The band's later material also lean towards a more technical/progressive style in the veins of Atheist, and Inside the Unreal contains some moments that see the technical side of the band rear its head. Rising of Infection, for instance, contains many sections that are reminiscent of Atheist, from the odd time signatures, the numerous tempo shifts on the track, to the complex riffs and soloing style of Alex on the track, though Electrocution's style is much smoother with fewer of those jarring moments. There are even times when Mick's vocals somewhat bear a resemblance to Kelly Shaefer's, further increasing that comparison to Atheist. One other thing that is notable is how the album manages to retain its old school feel despite the remastering that the album has gone through.

There are numerous excellent death metal acts alongside bands like Electrocution that have for some reason come and gone with just a single album and faded into obscurity. Fortunately then, there are still labels out there that help to ensure that excellent acts such as Electrocution, Death Strike and the likes remain fresh in fans' memories through the numerous reissues of hard-to-find albums. Inside the Unreal is a true masterpiece and any fan of death metal will find himself unwittingly going back to it again with its old school charm.